Christmas, the Nativity of Jesus, is a holy day of obligation.

A time of great joy and celebration, Christmas has a way of bringing people back to the Catholic church – or maybe into a pew for the first time. Here are some of the ways parishes in the Archdiocese of Baltimore make spirits bright and expand their faith communities.

The year’s final installment of Names and Numbers features outreaches from schools and families, and a successful farewell for a brother coaching duo.

Calvert Hall College High School in Towson informed its school community Dec. 18 of the removal of Christian Brother David Trichtinger from active ministry, pending the results of an investigation that he had inappropriate behavior with a minor in the 1980s at a school in the Pittsburgh area.

The Maryland province of the Society of Jesus Dec. 17 released the names of Jesuits who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors since 1950. They include Jesuits from the province and other Jesuits who have served the province.

She ministered primarily in education and pastoral care, including teaching at St. Clement School in Rosedale from 1961 to 1968.

Father Robert Katafiasz humbly walked through a tunnel of applause at the conclusion of his ordination Mass Dec. 15 as the congregation filled the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore with a passionate rendition of “Lift High the Cross.” The only priest ordained, the 36-year-old was […]

“Our young people don’t seem to understand the position of the church, and that makes some of them afraid to engage the secular society in some of these issues,” Father Godswill Agbagwa said. “As they graduate  and go on to the larger society, they can be able to engage their society … stand up for their faith in the public square.”

A manger scene can make people feel good at Christmas and that’s what Patty Derrick and her friends in Rehoboth Beach were aiming for when they spoke to town leaders about erecting a creche that has been part of the beach town for about a half-century.

A native of New York, Sister Mary Patricia entered the Daughters of Charity in 1952, and served as a teacher at St. John School in Baltimore, 1953-55.